01/04/2026
Sydney Jamboree 2026
Well what an adventure that was. Launching Gr***de 2.0 went pretty well considering it was basically a whole new setup. Unfortunately the test days were canceled on Thursday and Friday due to weather. So that left us two qualifiers to get a tuneup in the car before it was time to send in round one which resulted in a 7.0@197 with a 1.18 60ft. This result was promising considering it was early days. But with some hurdles along the way with diagnosing the co2 waste gate leaking and in round 3 the clutch slipped the whole way down running a 7.2@182 was the best we could manage. We missed out on an entry to the final by 2 tenths. But that’s racing.
I’d like to thank everyone that helps myself and the team get to where we are today. Especially my amazing wife for holding down the fort in the lead up to race day. If you aren’t dumb enough to do what we do you wouldn’t understand the sacrifice and work that goes into these race events. Hundreds of unpaid hours mixed with blood, sweat and tears. Honestly couldn’t do it without the support. I have the best crew Scott, Mark, Alistair and Tim helping me out. Im so grateful.
Boost WorX team for their constant support and amazing workmanship. Gr***de underwent quite a few changes in the lead up to this jamboree from a new front end to a fresh Liberty 5 speed gearbox. All fab work & mounting of components was meticulously performed in house by the team. The new ecu was wired up by none other than the guru himself Shaun all in house. He is the mastermind behind all 5 13b pro cars. Special mention to Ben for his awesome workmanship, attention to detail and fab skills.
Haltech for their amazing products and support. The new Nexus r5 is a pretty cool piece of gear. I can wait to push it to the limit.
Alan from WAT UP G for organising the rx2’s new carbon front clip all the way from QLD. Also congrats to his better half Gen for racing her rx3 in modified compact and running a new pb in the car.
The air brushing by Troy from Nightmare Designs. It came together so well.
Darren Billet from Billet inc for all the billet gear and constant support throughout the years. Was good to put the new intake through its paces.
The entire Hurstville Towing crew and brothers Moose and Blowey for everything they do. They make Sydney drag way feel like home away from home. Congrats on taking home the win in 289. You definitely worked hard for that one.
Kevvy from Power Seals for his constant help and support.
The new Liberty gearbox from Jason Grima performed perfectly. This was the first time shifting a mechanical clutch less gearbox which was honestly nothing like I’d expected.
Nick from Racekrome Ceramic Coatings and Mechanical did an awesome job of ceramic coating the exhaust manifold and something a little different doing the bellhousing in an awesome bronze colour in a lightning quick turn around time.👌
Chris Milton Engine Developments pulled out some late late last minute rotor work to help get our spare motor together just in time. There’s no way you can travel all the way to Sydney to race a jamboree without a spare motor…. Unless you are Nilsson Popplewell. Then you don’t need any spares at all and you just go through to win every round and take out the Pro Compact final all on a baby 28x10.5 tyre 😂 well done mate. You were definitely the mvp of that meet.
It was also great to have our friends Valanchavej, Mai, Sorawong and Weerathorn make it over from Thailand and finally catch up.
Anyway, here’s a vid of our last pass of the night
